The shadow blocking the next step in the makeover of Redwood City’s downtown area is beginning to lift — literally.

Last month, the Redwood City Council unanimously approved the environmental impact report for what it calls the Downtown Precise Plan, and the plan itself. The plan allows for the private development of up to 2,500 new residential units, 221,000 square feet of retail space — which is about half the size of San Jose’s eight-story Dr. Martin Luther King Library — 275,000 square feet of office space and 200 new hotel rooms in the three-block radius surrounding the county courthouse in what city officials are calling the second wave of downtown renovation.

The city originally proposed the plan in 2004, but it hit a few speed bumps — including one involving shadow impact — on its way to approval. Continue Reading >>